The topic chosen to teach searching techniques looked interesting (searching for the World Cup Football countries capital) to students. Students learnt the search techniques by finding countries capital to create a tour of World Cup football countries capital. The students could relate to this topic, due to the on-going World Cup football 2010 which kept them motivated throughout the lesson.
Minimum instructions were given by the teacher who tried to involve students in the learning process through queries and facilitate students by building up on their previous knowledge and involving them in class work on a trial and error basis.
Group work was encouraged where students shared their task within group members. Peer-tutoring involved where weaker students got help from expert students.
Students showed extrinsic motivation to complete the task as the teacher engaged his students to search the maximum number of countries capital.
Teacher also displayed some of the best student’s work and to the class. Students could see the completed work and could compare their work to the one displayed.
Good classroom management
Teacher’s Reflection
Looking at the video I believe my wrap up at the end of class is not the best. It's quite random and off-the-cuff. In hindsight and if I was doing this with all my other Grade 4 classes I would have shown one of the student's tours but then shown them a relevant tour of places that they may have been learning about in their Science classes (for example they were doing a unit on Ancient Greece) so I could have created a tour of ancient sites in Greece to show the students the power of Google Earth tours in relation to their other studies.
Overall I liked the running of the class. It's very student centered. They do the work with a few prompts. I love when this happens in a class and it shows authentic learning at it's best. They get on with the activity set, they help each other, assist each other and learn from their mistakes.
Discussion of the results and differences compared to the first teaching
The audience of lesson 1 and the revised lesson were from different classes and schools. The teaching topic was same but the teachers and prior knowledge of students was different. Taking all this into consideration during the group discussions we analysed that
Constructivist teaching approach could be adopted by building on previous knowledge and familiarity was adopted in the revised lesson plan that helped students to learn better due to student’s familiarity with the topic. Students were extrinsic motivated to learn the searching techniques efficiently as compared to lesson plan 1 where the students spend more time in figuring out their home address.
Minimum instructions were given by the teacher as students were already familiar with the Google earth program. This gave more time for the teacher to involve students in answering queries and facilitate them during class-work. The students engaged in trial and errors during the class activity. Time-management was efficient in the revised lesson plan.
Group work was the highlight of this revised lesson plan which encouraged students to work in groups, engage in multi-tasking and share their task e.g. one of the group member would search for capitals using online search engines while the other would figure out the route on Google map. Peer-tutoring among students was another aspect where students learned from each other.
In the revised lesson plan, the teacher tried to bring in the spirit of competition by encouraging students to find the capitals of maximum countries involved in the world cup and students showed the motivation and enthusiasm to complete the task searching for maximum number of countries capital. This also led to variation in student’s final product.
Students felt a sense of achievement when few of their best finished works was displayed by the teacher. This gave students a chance to compare their work with the one displayed.
PowerPoint was skipped in the revised plan as we felt that the Google Earth program was well equipped to save files
The back-chaining approach was not adopted in the revised lesson as the teacher felt that the students are familiar with the program and have prior knowledge of how the finished product will look like. In lesson plan 1 back-chaining was useful as the students were new to Google maps.
Discussion of the implications of the lesson study in relation to general theory and practice
Bruner’s Constructivist Theory asserts that learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas based upon their current knowledge. In the revised lesson the teacher followed Bruner’s theory by building upon what they already learned in the previous sessions on Google Earth and engaged them to explore further through enquiry and appropriate facilitation. The learning was student centered and the teacher facilitated his students by
on-the-spot help and correction
providing feedback about students work
suggestions to improve their work
guidance to use the knowledge gained for future use
Iconic Mental Model was followed by linking the capitals through pins and saving this tour using 3D map on Google earth, which was realistic. Students found this program interesting and easy to understand (any students comments) due to this realistic view and could search different locations very easily.
Carroll’s Minimalist Theory advises that course designers must minimize instructional materials that obstruct learning and focus the design on activities that support learner-directed activity.
The revised lesson plan and video shows that minimal instructions were give to students and more time spent on involving students to practically complete the lesson activity. On the basis of Carroll’s minimalist approach, we found that the revised lesson was
action oriented
less instruction
relevant task based on latest innovative technology
opportunity to explore
Vygostky’s Theory of Social Cognitive Development reasons that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition. Instruction can be made more efficient when learners engage in activities within a supportive environment and receive guidance mediated by appropriate tools. The group work helped students to communicate with each other, negotiate and share their task, share knowledge and help their peers. The students were provided with guidance and facilitation from the teacher to carry on the task in the right direction. This allows room for social cognitive development among students Variation was obvious when students were given chance to explore during the activity, the exploration
lead to variation among students work
Visual on-the-spot changes by selecting different options in the 'Layers'.
Reflection on the revised lesson study teaching
Teacher’s Reflection
Looking at the video I believe my wrap up at the end of class is not the best. It's quite random and off-the-cuff. In hindsight and if I was doing this with all my other Grade 4 classes I would have shown one of the student's tours but then shown them a relevant tour of places that they may have been learning about in their Science classes (for example they were doing a unit on Ancient Greece) so I could have created a tour of ancient sites in Greece to show the students the power of Google Earth tours in relation to their other studies.
Overall I liked the running of the class. It's very student centered. They do the work with a few prompts. I love when this happens in a class and it shows authentic learning at it's best. They get on with the activity set, they help each other, assist each other and learn from their mistakes.
Discussion of the results and differences compared to the first teaching
The audience of lesson 1 and the revised lesson were from different classes and schools. The teaching topic was same but the teachers and prior knowledge of students was different. Taking all this into consideration during the group discussions we analysed that
Constructivist teaching approach could be adopted by building on previous knowledge and familiarity was adopted in the revised lesson plan that helped students to learn better due to student’s familiarity with the topic. Students were extrinsic motivated to learn the searching techniques efficiently as compared to lesson plan 1 where the students spend more time in figuring out their home address.
Minimum instructions were given by the teacher as students were already familiar with the Google earth program. This gave more time for the teacher to involve students in answering queries and facilitate them during class-work. The students engaged in trial and errors during the class activity. Time-management was efficient in the revised lesson plan.
Group work was the highlight of this revised lesson plan which encouraged students to work in groups, engage in multi-tasking and share their task e.g. one of the group member would search for capitals using online search engines while the other would figure out the route on Google map. Peer-tutoring among students was another aspect where students learned from each other.
In the revised lesson plan, the teacher tried to bring in the spirit of competition by encouraging students to find the capitals of maximum countries involved in the world cup and students showed the motivation and enthusiasm to complete the task searching for maximum number of countries capital. This also led to variation in student’s final product.
Students felt a sense of achievement when few of their best finished works was displayed by the teacher. This gave students a chance to compare their work with the one displayed.
PowerPoint was skipped in the revised plan as we felt that the Google Earth program was well equipped to save files
The back-chaining approach was not adopted in the revised lesson as the teacher felt that the students are familiar with the program and have prior knowledge of how the finished product will look like. In lesson plan 1 back-chaining was useful as the students were new to Google maps.
Discussion of the implications of the lesson study in relation to general theory and practice
Bruner’s Constructivist Theory asserts that learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas based upon their current knowledge.
In the revised lesson the teacher followed Bruner’s theory by building upon what they already learned in the previous sessions on Google Earth and engaged them to explore further through enquiry and appropriate facilitation. The learning was student centered and the teacher facilitated his students by
Iconic Mental Model was followed by linking the capitals through pins and saving this tour using 3D map on Google earth, which was realistic. Students found this program interesting and easy to understand (any students comments) due to this realistic view and could search different locations very easily.
Carroll’s Minimalist Theory advises that course designers must minimize instructional materials that obstruct learning and focus the design on activities that support learner-directed activity.
The revised lesson plan and video shows that minimal instructions were give to students and more time spent on involving students to practically complete the lesson activity. On the basis of Carroll’s minimalist approach, we found that the revised lesson was
Vygostky’s Theory of Social Cognitive Development reasons that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition. Instruction can be made more efficient when learners engage in activities within a supportive environment and receive guidance mediated by appropriate tools.
The group work helped students to communicate with each other, negotiate and share their task, share knowledge and help their peers. The students were provided with guidance and facilitation from the teacher to carry on the task in the right direction. This allows room for social cognitive development among students
Variation was obvious when students were given chance to explore during the activity, the exploration